Burned, But Not By Fire
by Usagi Youkai
Summary: Zuko finds Sokka broken by Jet and takes him back to his ship, at first for the whereabouts of the avatar, at least until he gets to know Sokka... Rape, yaoi, ZukoSokka, squimish people digression advised
1. Violator and Savior

Burned, But Not By Fire

I know I should be updating my other Avatar fiction, but I was struck with inspiration, again. It happens, I get struck by the inspiration cloud and my attention is turned to it half way through the other fics. Sorry. Anyway, this is the result of wanting a lot of hurt/comfort while waiting for math class to end, and I happen to hurt the uke. Terrible me, I know, and poor Sokka is the uke.

**Warnings:** Yaoi; which means guys in a romantic relationship: Zuko/Sokka(Main) and Jet/Sokka(Non-Con). Rape; Yes, being forced against one's will to have sex. Not for Jet fans; personally, I think Jet went psycho and I don't like him that much. Violence; It gets a bit graphic and bloody. Look at the rating; Its M for a reason.

And I wrote this primarily to quell my own sadistic thoughts, if you don't like this kind of stuff, pay no mind to it.

---

Sokka walked through the woods, scouting the area to see if there were any fire troops about, but seeing none he paused for a break. They were still in the Earth Kingdom heading for the North Pole, and the trip was going slowly with all these detours. They were hidden in the woods, Appa was hard to hide, so they thought it best, and from what Sokka saw of the woods, they were thick and an army wouldn't be able to move though them easily; of course Appa had trouble squeezing between the trees as well. They were sticking close to the shore so that if they had to make a quick exit off land they could. Sokka scratched the back of his neck as he sat on a thick tree root; he had walked a long way, perhaps he shouldn't have, but he needed to know the area, and besides, he needed some thinking time to clear his head, Katara and Aang kept jabbering on about bending and they weren't paying him any mind.

After a minute of peace he began to stand, deciding that it wasn't safe to stay too long from the group; though maybe his decision was a bit late.

"Hello Sokka," Sokka whirled around, but he didn't have time to react before he was shoved back when someone dropped out of the tree. It was all in one familiar fluent movement that he was shoved up against the tree with someone's arm across his collar bone, the back of his head hitting the tree harshly, temporarily hazing his vision, "Long time, no see, traitor." His vision cleared, blue eyes meeting hard brown.

"Jet." Sokka growled angrily and went to grab his club that he had on him, but as soon as he lifted his hand his wrist was pinned to the tree bark by a familiar hook of Jet's sword.

"Not so fast, Sokka." Jet said, confident and seemingly enjoying the control he had at the moment, "We need to have a bit of a _chat_." Sokka snorted and glanced at Jet quickly, taking in where the rebel was positioned and what weapons he had. Of course the brunet had his hook swords in both hands and Sokka only hand one hand free, which was braced against the tree and not in reach of any weapon at the moment.

"We have nothing to talk about," Sokka snapped angrily and tried to lash out at Jet with his other hand, attempting full heartedly to give him a black eye, but Jet was skilled with that unique weapon and as soon as his hand lifted it too was pinned to the tree, but this time by his sleeve because Jet had stabbed it into the bark with the end of the dlade at the end of the hilt, and it wasn't gentle either, the blade had cut Sokka's arm, making him cringe slightly, but he still kept an angry gaze on the other.

"Oh, I'm sure we can find something, hm?" Jet sneered, "You ruined my plan to kill those Fire Nation troops."

"You were going to kill that whole village!" Sokka yelled angrily, "All those people would have died!" He tried to kick Jet away, but he was gutted by an elbow and the wind was temporarily knocked out of him.

"I told you before, there are sacrifices in war," Jet said, stepping back to admire his own handiwork; Sokka pinned to the tree by his arms, and breathing hard to get air back into his lungs. "It would have been a small price to pay to get the Fire Nation to leave out woods, but no, you had to go and ruin it."

"It was worth it." Sokka managed to get out when he got his breath back and this seemed to push a button in the Earth Kingdom native and he came close to Sokka and grabbed the front of his shirt and Sokka held his breath as he saw something not quite sane glinted in those hard brown eyes.

"It would have worked out fine if you hadn't have interfered." Jet hissed, "You humiliated me in front of my men by defying my plans."

"Well you weren't much of a leader to begin with," Sokka snapped, "Making them hurt people, what kind of sick person would kill their own people only to get rid of a fraction of the fire benders out there."

"It takes many battles to win a war." Jet growled.

"You're insane!" Sokka yelled and tried to push Jet back from him, but Jet actually pressed closer, a cold shiver filling Sokka, he hated Jet being close, he hated _Jet_, and he hated being helpless to injure the other back.

"So you think it was worth it?" Jet whispered harshly, "You think it was worth humiliating me? Well I can do the same to you, worse even." Sokka shivered and struggled at the words, he really didn't like the sadistic tone in the taller teenager's voice, frankly in scared him.

"Wha-what are you talking about?" the Water Tribe teen stuttered nervously, but he couldn't say that he really wanted to know what it was. Jet snorted a laugh and his mouth drifted closer to Sokka's ear, causing the shorter teen to shutter at hot breath ghosted over his ear, very uncomfortable.

"I think you know," Jet let his words drip with malice, "It's a fitting punishment for you getting in the way..." Sokka felt more than saw Jet's hand drift down to his gut and he began to undo his belt that held his shirt together. With a new burst of energy that was mostly out of adrenaline fueled fear, he tried to lash out at Jet again, this time the hook holding his wrist was pulled out of the bark and he was able to land a descent punch to the other's face.

Jet stumbled backwards, though not without his one sword. Sokka pulled loose the other sword and dropped it to the ground; he was not trained to use a sword and he was in no position to be using something he was not use to. He pulled out his club and charged Jet, but with another swift strike of Jet's hooked sword, it was pulled out of his hand and thrown to the side and his wrist was caught in the taller teen's hand tightly then twisted him around, throwing Sokka off balance and pushing Sokka flat on his stomach of the ground with a pained grunt, his arm being twisted behind his back.

"Get off!" Sokka yelled and tried to hit Jet with his other hand but that was also grabbed and held together as his white fabricbelt was slipped from around his waist. His wrists were tied quickly and securely and for once Sokka had trouble trying to get the bonds undone; Jet's gang had been pretty bad at their knot tying, but Jet seemed well experienced in the art. Sokka struggled to the best of his ability but couldn't get the knot to loosen, nor could his knees get under him to push him up; Jet had a hand firmly on the small of his back.

"So you want to do this the hard way, traitor?" Jet said, whipping away a trickle of blood from his lip where it cracked from Sokka's punch, "Fine, you deserve it." There was a pause and he heard something drawn out of a sheath, but he didn't have to wonder what it was for long because Jet showed it to him; it was the same knife Jet had claimed to be the old man's. "Recognize this? You should." Sokka lay still, really not liking the thought of being stabbed.

The knife was drawn back and he waited an agonizing minute before he felt the cold sensation of metal under his shirt. It grazed his skin and Jet must have sharpened it since the last time because he felt the unique drip of warm blood roll down his back and the stinging sensation of a cut. Sokka held his breath and heard fabric be cut, trying to cease the raise and fall of his ribs as his shirt was slowly shredded, though he noticed Jet didn't cut anywhere near the bonds; Sokka cursed Jet for being so smart and insane at the same time.

His shirt came off in pieces in the end and several cuts bled where the knife had touched and be breathed hard, adrenaline running through him too much, but unable to react because he didn't want to be sliced and diced. He heard Jet laugh lowly.

"I see now you're being good." Jet drawled and his hand ran over Sokka's dark and cut tarnished skin. Sokka's heart was hammering in his throat, fear even apparent in his voice as he felt the knife drift lower.

"Jet, don't do this." He pleaded, "What is this going to prove? It's not going to do you any..." His sentence was stopped with a yelp as Jet drug the knife across his back, a bit harder than with the small nicks before.

"You were better when you were quiet." Jet hissed and Sokka's eyes widened as he felt his pants were pulled down to his ankles, but not stripped off. He shook as a rough hand glided down his smooth thigh and leg.

"Stop it, Jet" Sokka said, voice more demanding, though still a hint of fear showed though; and again he had the knife cut across his back, making Sokka yell out in agony, too aware of his surroundings to ignore it.

"Shut up." Jet hissed and stuck the knife in the ground, grabbing Sokka's pony tail and yanking it up, causing Sokka to yelp, nearly as loudly as he had when the knife cut. "You're big mouth is what got you into this." He let Sokka drop back to the ground and tried to think of something that would get him out of this mess, but noting came to mind. He heard the rustling of clothing behind him and felt the invading fingers probe between his butt cheeks and he tried to scoot away so as not to be touched, but Jet dragged him closer by his hips and parted his legs.

"Jet…" Sokka began, hoping to talk reason into the other teenager, but he soon felt a weight on his back and he winced as is irritated his cuts and something thick and hard was resting between his butt cheeks.

"This is the only time you'll be able to scream." Jet whispered into his ear, sneer set in place, making his usual handsome facade drop, "this will hurt, a lot, get use to it." Sokka tried to prepare himself for what he knew what was about to come, but there was no way he could mentally or physically ready himself for being entered so harshly by Jet's hard member. Sokka's mouth opened, but no scream escaped; shock of the pain blocking his vocal cords from working; he nearly thought Jet had pushed that knife into him and sliced him all the way up his spine. It burned and it made him shake uncontrollably, tears squeezing from his clenched eyes. He nearly was thankful that it had hurt so bad it numbed him temporarily, but then he felt Jet was thrusting into him sharp and hard, nails digging into his back for grip. One thrust knocked his vocal cords into working again, but Sokka couldn't say he was glad of that because the first thing out of his mouth was a loud helpless scream.

Jet didn't stop his assault until the sun had long since set and Sokka's throat was raw from yelling, now only able to let out whimpers of pain when ever a particularly harsh thrust spiked the tearing sensation up his spine. His forehead was on the ground and he tried to concentrate on breathing, but the tremors of pain constantly reminded him that Jet was using his body for his own twisted sense of revenge. Sokka jumped when a sudden warm fluid filled him, it scalded his torn insides, making them burn even more; salt to the wound. Jet slid out of him then, sexually satisfied and he picked up a piece of Sokka's shirt to clean himself of blood and semen.

"At least you can take your punishment like a man." Jet sneered, looking down at the exhausted and injured form of the Water Tribe teen, watching Sokka curl up on his side like a wounded dog. Jet snorted and pulled up his pants, dropping the soiled rag to the ground, then as an added bonus, he delivered a swift kick to Sokka's gut, causing him to whimper. Jet huffed, satisfied once again that he'd come out on top. "I'm sure someone will come along and find you, and then they can see what you did to your self." Sokka was too far in agony to reply, tears had long since dried, and too tired to move his limbs. Jet sneered one last time, "Say hello to Katara for me." Then he turned and left as swiftly as he had come, heartlessly leaving Sokka to fall unconscious, no strength left to even move out of the clearing.

---

Prince Zuko pushed aside a tree branch and huffed in an irritated way, "This forest is too thick for a rhino to get through," He glanced at the old man behind him, "Are you sure the Avatar has been spotted here, uncle?"

"No," Iroh admitted, his fan slowly moving back and forth, creating a soft breeze in the humid woods, "But it's the best rumor we have to go on." Zuko felt a headache and rubbed his temple with his middle and ring finger. All these rumors and no solid facts were annoying and wasted what little time he had to catch up with the last air bender. He'd been held back enough fighting with the pirates and needed to pick up the trail again as soon as possible.

They'd heard of the most resent rumor that the Avatar had been seen with a bunch of Earth Kingdom renegades that had been causing Fire Nation troops trouble. Now they were going off on a whim; Zuko didn't like going off on rumors, but it was the best they had. Zuko, his uncle, as well as a few soldiers were combing the area for any sight of the Avatar or his companions. Iroh wasn't really looking, he was just following his nephew, and making sure the young fire bender didn't burn down the forest on them with his frustration fueled temper.

"We should not stay long, Prince Zuko." Iroh said, his fan shutting with the flick of his hand, "I'm sure the Avatar will be up and moving by no later than noon." They'd been searching since before the crack of dawn with no luck, and the men were all hungry and a little irritated by their prince's relentless searching. "I could go for a cup of tea when we get back." Iroh chimed cheerfully but Zuko didn't respond, hearing his relative, but not feeling like agreeing, even though he knew Iroh spoke truth.

"We have to at least find some kind of evidence," Zuko said, determined to find the monk, "A camp site maybe or somewhere a..." He didn't finish, explanation was no longer important as one of his soldiers ran up to him and saluted him. "What is it?"

"Sir," the soldier said, letting his salute drop and gesturing towards the direction he'd come from, "I think you'd better come see this, it appears to be one of the people traveling with the Avatar." Zuko was suddenly on high alert and Iroh sighed, knowing this wasn't going to be approached with caution or at a walk.

"Show me where." Zuko ordered, already swiftly heading in the direction that the soldier had indicated, almost at a running pace but not quite. The soldier hurried after Zuko, seemingly to want to make something clear to the prince.

"Sir, its not a pretty sight..." he tried to warn the prince of what he was about to see, but there wasn't enough time to tell Zuko with his long strides as he reached the spot wheretwo other soldiers waited for the third to come back, both of their eyes on the prince and not on the teenager on the ground, and when they had looked around, they avoided looking at the scene. Zuko nearly froze in mid step, eyes widening in considerable shock. Iroh wasn't far behind, and when he peered from behind Zuko he 'tsk'ed the site and shook his head; pity for the broken boy curled up on the ground. Zuko looked at the soldier that had come to him.

"Is he alive?" Zuko asked seriously; from where he was standing and with the blood covering Sokka, he couldn't tell by just looking.

"I... we don't know, sir." The soldier said, a tad meekly, knowing that they should have, but no one was willing to approach the obviously raped body. Zuko glared at the soldier, but decided not to worry about that now.

"Scout the area, look for any person, animal or camp site." Zuko ordered all of them and there was no protest given, each glad to leave the disturbing site. Zuko's nose wrinkled at the metallic smell of blood and the sight of inhuman violence. Though despite being disgusted he approached the still Sokka, kneeling down to see if the other was alive, daring to press two fingers to the side of the darker skinned neck which was exposed in his curled up position, feeling for sign of life; there was no point in caring if the water tribe teen was dead, but if he was alive the Avatar would surely be looking for him and would want him back alive. It was cruel thinking, but Zuko forced himself to cut out emotional ties; though he did feel pity and he couldn't deny it, he was after all human as well.

Sokka's skin was cold, and for a moment Zuko actually did assume the other to be dead, but then he felt the faint pulse of life and he let out a breath, glad he wasn't touching a corpse. He gazed down at all the gashes caked with dried blood along his back and then his eyes avoided anything past the waist line; he did have some level of respect for the injured. He focused on the white belt binding Sokka's wrists and wondered if he should get rid of it; the darker skinned teen looked too wounded to put up a fight.

"He's alive." Zuko announced to his uncle who was still behind him. Iroh was not all that shocked by the scene as was his nephew and crew; he'd seen the worst of war, and he was not proud of it. A good few fire benders had gone savage and people were burned alive in grotesque ways. Blood, wounds, and deathwere not uncommon in war; he could handle it and could think reasonably in the midst of it; but even though he didn't show it out right, he was also shocked by the level of violence.

"So what do you plan to do?" Iroh asked and Zuko paused, himself now trying to stomach the situation.

"Take him back to the ship and try to get information out of him." Zuko said and finally grabbed the knot of the binding fabric on Sokka's wrists, not bothering to mess with trivial knots and siring the fabric, the belt unraveling some. He pulled the belt off the rest of the way and Sokka's limbs felt limply to the ground, cut around his wrists from the strain and struggle. The next thing he did was pull up Sokka's pants to cover up the violation that had taken place. He was quite uncomfortable touching the darker skinned teen, a sense that he was hurting the other further squeezed into his conscious, so he did this quickly and Sokka winced in his unconscious sleep and a pained groan left him. Zuko sat up quickly, seeing if the other would awake, but he didn't. Zuko took a breath and looked around for any other clothing, but there were only shreds of blue and black clothe and a water tribe club in the area. He grimaced and realized there would be no clean way to move the other, not with all the blood.

Zuko cleared his mind of the task and hefted Sokka up, arms under the water tribe teen's shoulders and knees. He normally wouldn't do such a thing, but he'd sent his men off to search the area before he'd assessed the situation right. He'd positioned Sokka's arms to rest on his chest, where there was a large bruise, so that they didn't get in the way as he was moved. Sokka didn't react,but when he'd moved the injured one a strong smell of blood and sex hit him from the liquids that hadn't dried. It made his stomach twist uncomfortably but he willed away any nausea he might have felt and stood up straight, looking to Iroh, who had pulled out his fan again and was fanning the air to clear the smell.

"I'll go gather the men." Iroh said and went to do just that. Zuko headed towards the meeting area that they'd arranged incase anyone got lost. Occasionally Sokka would wince in pain and his body would tense before going slack again, low on energy and there was no real struggle. Sokka's body nearly felt fragile in his arms like could break easily, or already was broken, he couldn't tell. He's never seen anyone in this situation and he wasn't exactly sure how to act around that; he was glad Sokka was unconscious, just so he wouldn't have to explain his actions.

Making it to the clearing they had agreed to meet at, there already were a few men waiting to receive their next orders. He saw them stand straighter like they always did when he approached, but he could see they were all surprised when they noticed that he was carrying someone. Zuko went to the strongest man in the group, shifting Sokka away from him more, "Take him to the ship and get him cleaned up, he needs to be questioned when we get back." The man grimaced but took Sokka and they all headed back to the ship.

Zuko watched them leave and he couldn't stop the nausea that hit him. He hurried to a nearby tree and leaned over, one hand on the tree to support him self as he vomited; he truly was not ready to stomach the sight of that, of what people could do to another, a true result of savagery.

---

Yup graphic, but I think any rape would be, it's not just something you can just brush off, it's awful and traumatizing. I'm trying to stick to reality; I've noticed that some rape fics are just flat out wounded and then healed within a matter of sentences; I don't think anyone can numb that feeling of being used, not without a _lot_ of support from friends and family. And again, trying to stick to reality, it has to be a grotesque site, I wouldn't blame Zuko for throwing up, he's not an unfeeling guy. Iroh; hell, he was a general, and people in war see a lot of unwanted things. Just saying, every reaction they have has reason. If you enjoy, leave a reveiw,


	2. Awakening

Next chapter, and wow, I wasn't even expecting that many reviews for this story. 7 :D Yay!

* * *

Sokka woke with a yell, sitting bolt upright, arms tight around himself, a cold sweat covering his body, his eyes wide. He panted harshly as if he'd run nonstop and shivered as cold air brushed his sweat covered skin. Nightmarish images flashed in front of his eyes and shut them tight, willing them away.

Once the anxiety died down he noticed how sore and heavy his body felt. His eyes opened cautiously, finding he was tired, even after sleeping for who know how long, and took in his surroundings. The room was small and quiet; the only decorations were red banners from the fire nation. Two torches were the only source of light in the room, one on either side of a heavy looking metal door. He let a hand fall to his side, landing on the soft futon he was on; he acknowledged it and that a sheet had been on him before being thrown off when he sat up. He grabbed the sheet and pulled it back up and around himself, wrapping it around his bare chest, but he also acknowledged that his cuts were cleaned and bandaged. He was glad to see that he still had his pants on, even if they were blood spattered; it gave him a small sense of protection.

He realized that this was a Fire Nation ship by the banners but he couldn't find it in him to curse his luck, he couldn't find it anywhere in him to think rationally at all. He felt as if his brain was clouded and that he was in a daze. It was like he was half asleep still and couldn't wake up. He gathered enough sense that he should try to get out of here. He turned some so that his legs swung over the side of the futon. He pushed himself up but his legs wouldn't support him and he felt a sharp spike of pain up his spine as soon as he put weight on one leg; he collapsed back on the bed, shaken by the pain and he lay back down, tears swelling in his eyes.

His body was aching again, his injuries no longer dormant. The pain was overwhelming, it almost made him cry out, but he held back the sound, shocked that he was in such pain, even though he knew why it hurt. He never though Jet would actually do something like that, he never thought anyone could do a thing like that, not to him. He never suspected… he never thought… Was he really that weak that someone could take advantage of him like that? He hated that feeling of being forced down and over powered; and it _hurt_, it hurt like nothing he'd ever experienced before, not just his body though, it had scarred something else as well, but he wasn't sure of just what yet.

Sokka tensed as the large metal door opened, supporting him up by his elbows; he immediately noticed his limbs were sore, no doubt being tied up all night in the awkward position. A soldier had opened the door and Sokka felt his insides recoil some at the site of the fire bender; he'd always hated fire benders, they killed his mother after all, but now he felt more fear swell in him. The soldier seemed to notice his consciousness and after a brief glimpse of a strange look in the man's eyes, he shut the door, leaving Sokka to the quiet room once again.

After his muscles relaxed, he wondered; what had that look been for? He'd never seen anyone give him that look before, and he didn't like it. He sighed and layed back down on the mattress, shutting his eyes, feeling a soft headache behind his them. He had too much to think about, he thought and tried to get some more rest, he wasn't going to get out of here tired and sore, and he needed to get up to par before he did anything

---

"Sir, the prisoner is awake."

Zuko had been at the dinner table with his uncle when the soldier had announced this. Food was out on the table, but his portion was untouched, he couldn't stand the thought of eating when he'd only seen Sokka covered in blood and semen this morning, and even though he'd washed his mouth out once back at the ship, he still had bile scorching the back of this throat. He'd also changed out of his armor for his casual black clothes, his armor now had blood on it, and blood got everywhere. Iroh was probably the only one eating anything, and even he ate slowly today. Zuko stood from the table at the news.

"Finally," He said and looked at the soldier, "Get him some food and I'll interrogate him in a while." The soldier bowed in response and went to do as ordered. Iroh sighed and put his chopsticks down.

"You know, Prince Zuko, when someone goes through an experience like that, they won't be keen to socializing." Iroh mentioned and Zuko paused, though his mind was made up that he would question Sokka, he did think it would be awkward, but he couldn't put it off forever.

"We need to get back on the Avatar's trail." He said and Iroh made a neutral sound, accepting the excuse, but he knew his nephew wasn't so cold hearted as he appeared to be; he had a high level of honor and value for human life. He knew Zuko wouldn't try to make things worse for the water tribe teen; _try_, being the key word. Who knew how the injured teen would react when backed into a corner.

"Good luck with the questioning then." Iroh replied; Zuko always did what he thought would bring himself closer to getting home again. Zuko nodded and left, the smell of food did not bode well with him now, deciding to get some fresh air on deck and clear his head before interrogating Sokka.

* * *

Confrontation next chapter, review if you like it

Repost: People, please do not tell me every single grammar error; I know you mean well, but I just find it annoying. I went back and corrected and from now on I'll try to run everything through my Beta (My wonderful beta that I love so much by the way, HKL), but its so hard to wait, you know?


	3. Touch Burns

Updating may slow for all stories, I have less typing time at school, I'll update when I can.

* * *

Zuko pushed open the metal door to the room Sokka was in, head held up high, determined to get the information he was seeking; though he wasn't expecting Sokka to be sleeping when he arrived. He frowned and closed the door behind him, approaching the other, taking an instant glance at his surroundings. Nothing was different from when Sokka was brought accept for the tray of food that was sitting on a table near the entrance of the room, untouched; his frown deepened, but me fixed his mind on something other than the darker one's health. 

Leaning over the bed and the sleeping Sokka, Zuko reached out and touched Sokka's shoulder, planning on giving him a nudge to help along the waking process, but at the slightest touch Sokka's eyes snapped open in fear and he bolted back from the looming figure over him. He thought it had been Jet again, he really had, coming back to 'punish' him more for going against him. He hit the wall that the futon side was against, his arms wrapped himself tightly despite his injuries and his legs pulled up in front of him, for an added feeling of security.

Zuko drew back some, giving the other a little space to calm down and realize where he was. Sokka did calm down some, but he didn't ease all of his muscles. Sokka felt his heart hammering in his throat as his vision cleared, seeing it wasn't Jet, but seeing Zuko didn't make him feel any better, in fact, it made him feel worse; this was Zuko's ship, Zuko had found him at his weakest moment. Zuko folded his arms, eyes fixed on the water tribe teen.

"Where is the Avatar?" He demanded; but Sokka didn't answer, just watching Zuko with untrusting eyes. Zuko scowled, "I know he's around the area, where is he?" Again Sokka didn't speak, not even an insult was thrown at him. Sokka had expected the questions; it was always about Aang, Zuko was always trying to catch the monk, and he was going to stand firm, and not react, he refused to show any weakness. Zuko was getting frustrated with the silence and leaned closer to try to get under the other's skin: and despite Sokka's determination no not show fear, he was intimidated, body shrinking away ever so slightly from the prince. "Tell me or you can always be thrown overboard." Sokka still didn't react; he remained quiet and so far without flinching. Zuko huffed; irritated that he was not getting a reaction. Perhaps he was too traumatized to speak, but chances where that the darker skinned one was being stubborn.

Annoyed with how long this was taking, Zuko's temper got the better of him and he grabbed Sokka's arm without thinking about what the darker skinned teen had just gone through

Sokka's eyes widened and his heart started hammering again, feeling adrenalin fill his veins, and he started to shake, mind clouding with what Jet had forced him into. He immediately started to struggle against Zuko's touch, grabbing Zuko's wrist, trying to push him away, at the same time a foot kicking out to fight back. Zuko was almost caught off guard with the kick, but he caught the darker skinned teen's ankle and pinned it to the bed, he didn't want to be kicked. Being forced to stop only made Sokka panic more and struggle harder, eventually he ended up pinned to the futon by his shoulders, on his back, and he only stopped when kicking didn't do anything. He was breathing hard, body going lax; tired from not eating anything for a day plus his injuries reminded him they were there.

Zuko held down Sokka until he stilled, his only reason for taking offense was because Sokka had struck out at him and he didn't want to be injured by his own prisoner. He finally got a good look at Sokka once he'd calmed down and met his eyes with Sokka's. Sokka's eyes were wide and his pupils contracted; pure untainted fear was clouding those blue eyes and Zuko realized Sokka was scared… no, terrified of him, as if he was going to violate him like who ever else had done. Zuko immediately released Sokka, backing up to give him some space. He didn't like that look in the other's eyes, sure he'd waned to intimidate the other into telling him where the Avatar was, but he didn't want Sokka to think he was going to rape him or anything of the sort. He visually saw Sokka relax, but still breathing hard from the exertion.

Sokka sat up and for a moment he had no idea what had happened, but he did know Zuko had touched him and he shivered from the feeling; it wasn't like Jet's hard touch, but it still hurt, and not in the bruising way. He wrapped his arms around himself, still finding himself to be shaking, even if he didn't want to be; he couldn't believe he'd freaked out like that.

Zuko paused a moment in movement and decided to back off for the day; he wasn't going to get any information out of Sokka this soon, not when he was in this condition. He turned around and headed for the door, but the food on the table caught his eye again and when he reached it he turned back to look at Sokka.

"Why haven't you eaten anything?" Zuko asked; positive the other must be hungry, considering his wounds and the fact that Sokka had been in his custody for a full 24 hours now. Sokka was startled by the question.

"I can't walk." Sokka spoke quietly, his throat parched from soreness and dryness. Zuko paused a moment more, then sighed, doing yet another thing he normally wouldn't, he picked up the tray of food and bough it over to the futon, leaving it within arm's length of Sokka on the ground; there was no table near by. Sokka looked at the prince with a slightly bewildered gaze, but Zuko missed it, immediately turning back.

"I can't have you dying on me." Was all that he said and he left, shutting the door behind him firmly. Zuko looked at the two soldiers that stood guard at the door. "Next time actually give him the food." The guards grew a tad sheepish, knowing they should have, but hadn't. Zuko left for his quarters then, knowing he needed some rest; trying to get the fear in Sokka's eyes out of his mind, he wanted to be respected, not feared.

---

"Sokka!" Katara called into the forest, obvious worry in her voice. "Sokka!"

"Katara…" Aang tried to get her attention, chasing after her fast pace.

"Sokka! This isn't funny any more!"

"Katara."

"Sokka, if you don't come out right now, I'll… I'll…"

"Katara!" Aang finally yelled and it got Katara's attention. The water bender was frantic with worry, and for good reason, Sokka had never come back from his scouting last night, and they figured that he would reappear some time in the night when they woke up in the morning; but Sokka hadn't come back, his sleeping bag was still rolled up tight by the supplies and that's when they'd started to look for him. So far there was nothing, absolutely not a trace of the warrior was found and the sun was already starting to set.

"But, what if he's hurt?" she said worriedly, "Or what if he ran into a bunch of fire benders, he could be _dead_ for all we know…"

"I'm sure he's fine," Aang said comfortingly, "He probably just got lost."

"Then why do I get the feeling that he's hurt?" she said an Aang faltered, beginning to hope Sokka wasn't hurt either; he'd been pretty confident in the beginning of the search that Sokka would just be napping against a tree. They traveled a little longer, occasionally having to stop so Appa could catch up to them, the trees slowed him down, and Katara wouldn't slow down in her search for her brother.

Momo was curiously hopping around while Katara searched and tailed off at some point, causing Aang to stop following Katara and start chasing the little lemur.

"Momo!" the young monk called and Katara paused, following Aang, he own trail wasn't coming up well. Momo soon reached a small clearing of woods, his nose twitching with the familiar sent of the tallest human in the group, but then his little nose wrinkled at the smell of dried blood that was no longer so potent because it was dry now. Aang finally caught up with the little lemur, having used his air bending for speed, he was surprised when Momo jumped into his arms with a few chirps, then buried his little nose in the yellow material, as if trying to block out a horrid smell.

Aang looked from the little lemur to the surroundings and gasped. In the middle of the clearing it looked as if there had been a fight; the grass was flattened and there was an impression in the grass, as if someone had slept there. The only thing that convinced him that there was a fight was that there was dried blood on the ends of the blades and the one piece of evidence that Sokka had been there was that his club lay on the ground near it, as well as shreds of blue cloth that was clearly made from the water tribe.

"Aang…" Aang jumped at his name and turned to see Katara finally reaching him and Momo, though she wasn't in view of the scene yet and he panicked. He ran over to her and stopped her proceeding. Confused, Katara stopped, seeing Aang looked scared. "Aang?" she spoke slowly, worriedly, she didn't see that look in the monk's eyes often and she knew something was wrong.

"Katara," Aang said, "I-I don't think you should see it." He was trying to help, but it only served to make the water bender more worried.

"Aang, what's wrong?" she nearly demanded an answer.

"Well, uh…"

"If it has something to do with my brother I have a right to know!" she exclaimed and Aang fell silent, realizing she was right, she had a right to know, like how he had needed to know about Gyatso. He stepped aside and she went over to where Aang had been standing before. She took in he same sight he had before and she put her hand over her mouth, eyes starting to water. Aang went over to her and put a hand on her shoulder, trying his best to do _something_ for her, but there wasn't really anything to do, not right now at least.

"Katara…" he said quietly after a minute of staring at the scene in the setting sun light, "We'll find him, he couldn't have gotten too far." And he believed it full heartedly. By the evidence in front of them, if he was injured, he could be sheltering under a tree close by.

Katara nodded slowly, knowing Aang was right, Sokka had to be alright. Her brother was too stubborn to be too seriously injured, though the thought of Sokka needing their help was heavily on her conscious. She didn't speak, she knew if she did she would start crying, and she told herself to think positively.

"Sokka's strong, he'll be ok." Aang said and she just nodded. She went back to Appa to help the flying bison get through the trees. Aang didn't go right away; he entered the scene and picked up Sokka's club, knowing Katara wouldn't want it left behind. With one last look around, he couldn't find any real clues as to who had fought with Sokka, although one tree did have some suspiciously familiar cuts in them that seemed familiar, but he couldn't place it.

Aang didn't dwell on it, and with one last glance at the area he went back to Katara and Appa, truly hoping Sokka was ok.

* * *

All the trauma! Poor Sokka is traumatized now and Katara and Aang have no clue where he is, well that's how the ball bounces.And yeah, I don't think Zuko really knows how to act around Sokka because of what happened to him, its a strange thing to cope with. Review if you like 


	4. Captive of My Mind

Next chapter... Hope you like it... I have my period, and because I have my period I don't care who knows it. Yes, I have a bit of a temper and I don't feel this writing anymore today. I'm going to take a nap now! Thank you!

* * *

Iroh found the sea air on deck very refreshing, and with a cup of tea he found it even more enjoyable. It had been three days since they'd last been at land, also three days since Zuko had brought Sokka aboard. They'd set sail, continuing to follow the trail of the Avatar, though Zuko still continued to try to find out more about Aang's whereabouts and/or where he was going. But Sokka didn't speak, only the once, and it hadn't been about the monk.

Iroh shook his head, knowing his nephew was sometimes ignorant in peaceful socialization with people; but this life on the sea had put a sharp and distrustful edge on the prince. Iroh wasn't surprised when the deck's door opened forcefully by said prince, clear that Zuko was frustrated before Iroh even glanced at him.

"No luck?" Iroh asked knowingly and Zuko huffed, irritated.

"No." Zuko replied bitterly and stood beside his uncle, arms folded, fuming still. Sokka hadn't responded to his questions, and he didn't dare touch the other again, not after the violent reaction he got the first time. Though he noticed every time he entered the room the water tribe teen would be more and more jumpy, as if his condition was getting worse, it was disturbing to see. "He's not getting any better with time, he still won't talk."

"That's because he is trapped in that room with his worse memories," Iroh said wisely, tea cup to his lips, "A man could go crazy if left in his own mind." Zuko side glanced at his elder.

"You're suggesting I let him roam free?" the price asked skeptically.

"No," Iroh replied, "I'm just saying that he won't get any better dwelling over what ever happened to him." Which to Zuko, meant letting Sokka out of the room, and he wasn't about to trust Sokka to not think of a plan to get off the ship. "Also, I don't think he'll relay any information to you when he doesn't trust you." Zuko's eye brows furrowed, shocked by his uncles words.

"Trust me?" He scoffed "He's a prisoner, he doesn't have to trust me; he just needs to answer my questions."

"Why should he answer your questions?" Iroh asked, trying to get his nephew to see his reasoning, "Surrounded by enemies after a vicious attack, why should he talk to anyone?" Zuko was quiet a minute and looked out at the blue sea and clear sky; he didn't like how his uncle would word things sometimes, it made him think and drew him away from being detached from humanity, as were most of the other fire benders that were near savagery. He knew he was more honorable than most for it, but it really went against what his nation had taught him; be tough, be strong, to show no mercy.

"Trust is a powerful thing, Prince Zuko." Iroh said off handedly and that seemed to be the end of the advice, leaving Zuko to make his own decision, "Oh, and could you tell the cook to get me more tea?" Iroh asked, picking up his nearly empty tea pot. Zuko shot his elder an annoyed look and turned to go back to his quarters. Iroh just shrugged and told the nearest soldier to do the same, knowing this matter would smooth out one way or another.

---

Sokka stared at the wall, lying on his front; his back was healing and the scabs itched horribly. Zuko had a healer on the ship that doubled for the engine man; he'd wrapped up his wounds and it seemed to be healing properly. He could walk again; he'd spent a good part of the day doing that, until he got tired and lay down, it seemed all he could do. They'd given him an extra shirt; it was grey and heavy on his skin, no doubt heat resistant; it was also pretty large on him, being an extra from one of the warriors.

One of Sokka's arms was across his pillow, his chin resting on it and the other arm was stretched out over the front o the bed, hanging down. He tried to focus on thoughts of Katara and Aang. He tried to think of Suki and how they'd trained together. He even tried to concentrate on what Momo and Appa would be doing now. But they were only in short bursts. His mind would haze off and he would go into trances where he actually heard Jet's malice filled words, whispered in his ear. He would be startled and look around, but no one would be there.

He pressed his face into the pillow in a half hearted attempt to suffocate himself; but he came up for air, unable to even attempt that sort of thing. Was he going insane here? What was the point of being alive if he was stuck in here, slowly losing his mind in paranoia? The only sane moments seemed to be when Zuko would question him, at least then someone would speak to him; the soldiers didn't utter a word to him when they delivered him food. Zuko hadn't tried to touch him again and that was fine with Sokka, but what would Zuko do to him after he learned where Aang and Katara were going? Would they toss him over board or kill him outright?

"You are much better when you're silent." Jet's words rang in his ear and Sokka jumped, instinctively twisting around onto his back, hand raised to defend him self. He breathed raggedly and his eyes darted around, but he found no one but himself. He relaxed into the mattress and rubbed his temples; was his brain ever going to give it a rest?

His body tensed as the door opened, Zuko had left for the night and dinner had been brought; normally he would be left alone to the dark, and the quiet, and his nightmares to plague him. He was surprised when Zuko walked back into the room, for the second time that day. The prince closed the door behind him like he always did and Sokka pulled the sheet on him around himself more; Zuko made him uncomfortable.

Zuko scowled some, not believing he was doing this; but he had to admit, it was very depressing to see the other teen curled up in bed like that. It wore on his conscious.

"Since you've been so quiet I've decided to allow you to roam the ship," Zuko said, knowing he wouldn't be greeted with words of any sort, so he'd rather say it and get it over with, "With boundaries of course, and if you cause any trouble you can be locked back in here." Sokka was stunned, reasonably so; Zuko was going to let him wander around the ship?

"Really?" Sokka asked quietly, making sure Zuko wasn't trying to pull anything over on him, it would be a horrible joke if he was.

"Yes really," Zuko said in an annoyed tone, "Just don't get any ideas about escaping." Sokka shook his head slowly; where was he going to go, he was sure they were still at sea. Zuko huffed and turned back to the door and had his hand on the handle when Sokka spoke up, thought his voice still oddly was feeble and unsure.

"Thanks." He said; voice unused for most of the time that he'd been there. Zuko's grip tightened on the handle and he pulled the door open, leaving, pretending to not hear that word. He wasn't doing the other a favor; no, it was just to get information out of the water tribe teen, really.

* * *

Tell me what you think, I love to see your long reviews, rant all you want, make me laugh, I need it 


	5. Suicide?

:D I'm back and my cycle is over, yay!

---

Sokka rested his hands on the railing of the ship, looking down at the blue water that crashed against the hull. He took a deep breath of salty air and smiled lightly as he saw the sun was already peeking over the horizon. It was chilly in the early morning, but he didn't care, it was better than being in that stuffy room. He'd been allowed out at first light and immediately the weight lifted off his mind as he was able to occupy his thoughts with something other than his violation. He never thought he would be traveling on a fire navy ship; sure he'd been on Zuko's ship before, once, to save Aang. He wondered why Zuko would let him roam free; he was a prisoner, why would Zuko cut him so much slack? Was it because Zuko didn't see him as a threat?

Sokka frowned at that thought; he should be considered a threat, he was a warrior. He might not have had a weapon, but still. He huffed and adjusted his position, folding his arms and leaning against the railing with his forearms. How was he going to get back to Katara and Aang? Were they still looking for him? He hoped they weren't, he wasn't around the area anymore and they needed all the time they could get to train Aang. His eyes fell to the water again. He missed them, he really did, and he hoped they were all alright.

He glanced around and spotted a couple guards on the deck, alert by the door. He saw a soldier everywhere he went, no doubt Zuko had them ordered to make sure he didn't get into trouble. He wondered if he could slip by them to explore the ship more thoroughly. He was intrigued by the mechanics of it all.

He decided to give it a try, slip past the soldiers. He got off the railing and went into the ship's cabin, and sure enough, the soldiers followed him. He walked down a couple of halls and after passing one corner he broke into a run, causing the fire benders to loose sight of him. He soon heard them chasing though, the sound of foot steps behind him. He saw a door that was slightly open and he decided to finally loose them.

Sokka slipped into the room and shut the door, though not all the way, it would make a click if he did. He waited and soon enough he saw the soldiers pass by, looking for him. There was a tense moment where they stopped and looked for any sight of them before they moved on. He sighed, relieved that they missed him. He turned and froze, a spear centimeters from his nose. His heart racing, he took a step back, only to see that the spear had fallen crooked in its holder and out of caution of weapons he stood it back up straight. He glanced around and saw that it was a weapon room; there were spears, swords and daggers. Surprisingly, in a fire navy ship he expected more weapons than this. Some walls were bare and there were few of each type of weapon.

He wandered around the small room, inspecting the spears and swords. He soon wasn't that surprised; Zuko's crew wasn't large in numbers and the fact that they were fire benders said something, they wouldn't need materialistic weapons for the exception of maybe a few things. He let his fingers drift over the hilt of a sword and he paused before pulling his hand back, subconscious hovering over the memory that Jet had used a sword to hold him down. He backed away from the swords and nearly ran into something else. He spun around quickly and his breath caught in his throat. Right behind him had been a small shelf of daggers.

Sokka's heart pounded in his throat as he remembered the blade that had caused him part of his agony. These knives were similar to Jet's, but of course, Jet had mentioned once that it had been from the fire nation. Gingerly, he reached out and his finger tips touched the hilt; for a spilt moment he thought the dagger was going to jump up and slice him. It didn't though and he found his fingers curling around the hard wood handle. His hands were shaking uncontrollably, but he pulled it to eye level, staring at it.

He wondered why Jet had let him live; was he still being punished by having to relive these memories? Had Jet just wanted him to suffer? Or was he expecting someone else to finish the job. Sokka felt his eyes swell with tears. If he didn't know Aang he was sure Zuko would have had him killed while he was unconscious. What good was he really? Just for information, just for someone to violate and throw away... what kind of life was that? And what if he answered Zuko? He'd be killed, because he had no other use, or worse...

Sokka slid to the floor, knife still in hand. Was it worth living? If he was no more he wouldn't have a chance to tell Zuko where Aang was, then Aang would have at least a little more time to train. Still shaking horribly, the tears finally over flowing from his eyes, he brought the dagger up to his throat, he heard once it would be a painless death. He rested the blade on his skin and stopped, trying to gather courage for this kind of thing...

Why was he here anyway, in this room with these weapons? He wondered suddenly. Why had Zuko given him free rein on the ship and handed him food when he couldn't get it himself? In fact, he might have broken down by now with everything he knew if Zuko had tortured him into it; starving him and letting his wounds become infected. Why was Zuko being so nice to a prisoner? Was it pity? Or did the prince care?

The blade clattered on the floor across the room and Sokka was breathing in gasps, unable to comprehend what he'd been thinking; how could he ever let the thought of killing himself? It was against every moral he had. He was a warrior, warriors died in battle, not by their own blade. He curled up and wrapped his arms around himself, trying to calm his breathing. He reached up and touched the spot where the blade had rested. He drew his fingers back to see a smudge of blood, it wasn't a huge injury, but it brought him back to reality.

He stood up and fled to the door, throwing it open and slamming it behind him, not caring if anyone heard it. He scared himself; that much was for sure. He wrapped his arms around himself and stepped away from the door, running down the hall; to where, he wasn't sure, he just wanted away from that room that held that knife.

---

By noon Zuko was up and going around his ship, making sure everything was in its place and that his men were not lounging around. He did catch a few men gathered around his uncle in one room and he was telling a story of an entertaining time that took place in the fire nation palace, apparently a certain young prince Ozai had set a carpet on fire and burned down a few irreplaceable tapestries. No one had been hurt so it was ok to laugh.

Zuko huffed at the tale and moved on, contemplating the story; Iroh had told him it a few times in secret. For if the Fire Lord knew Iroh was spreading that story it would not be a very friendly Agni Kai.

Eventually Zuko found himself at the back of the boat and he found the weaponry door was open. He frowned and his brow lowered. Who had been in the room? They had not been to land for a few days so the door should not have been wide open. He walked in and examined his surroundings. Nothing was missing, nothing was disturbed; well, there was one dagger on the floor and he wondered how that had gotten there. Walking over he scooped it up and inspected it. He saw nothing at first, but then he saw a speck of red. Eyebrows furrowing he looked closer at it and it looked as if the very tip had grazed with paint. But it wasn't paint, it was dry blood.

He suddenly could feel his heart beat a little harder; whose blood was it? It certainly wasn't from battle, the weaponry was thoroughly cleaned after each battle, and there was no reason for this. He grabbed a rag from the wall and wiped it clean, then replaced it back on the shelf, its rightful place. Tossing the rag away he left and shut the door after him. He decided to take another sweep of the ship, to see if there was any obvious explanation for the blood.

Soon enough he was checking the storage haul, which was full of boxes and crates of food and his uncle's unused junk. At first he found nothing out of the ordinary, it was dark and quiet and would not normally take a good look at the place. But the blood on the blade had made him suspicious and he lit a flame in his hand to light the area. Immediately he found the one thing out of place; Sokka was on the floor, lying down in a corner, curled up and asleep.

Zuko wondered where the guards were that were suppose to be watching him, a flash of annoyance grazed his face, though soon disappeared after the fleeting thought had passed. He crouched down by the water tribe teen and found the other was shaking uncontrollably and his eyes were shut tight, as if having a bad dream. Zuko reached out to touch the other's shoulder, but stopped, his hand hovering, remembering the last time he'd touched the darker skinned one. He pulled his hand back and attempted to wake the other vocally.

"Hey." He tried getting Sokka's attention, but got no response. "Wake up." Again nothing. Zuko frowned and tried to recall the teen's name. He was sure he'd heard the Avatar and water bender call him it a few times. "Sokka, _Sokka_." Finally the other stirred at a familiar word and his eyes opened hazily, though his body didn't cease its shaking; it was cooler in the haul, but not incredibly so, so it had to be something else. Zuko gave to other a frown and Sokka sat up quickly. "Why are you in here?"

"Don't know." Sokka said shortly, his eyes on the floor. He knew why; he'd run from the weaponry room so fast he ended up here and he was shaking so bad he had to sit down. He'd really disturbed himself when he'd had those thoughts; if he'd been in that daze any longer he could have… no, he _would_ have killed himself.

"What's this?" Zuko asked; a touch of anger in his voice. There was a cut on Sokka's neck by his jugular and a dried trail of blood was running down, leaving into his grey shirt.

"I… I…" Sokka was really unsure how to answer; did he trust Zuko enough to tell him the truth? No, he didn't, he barely knew the prince. Did he lie and say he had injured himself in some other way? No, he was not a good liar, and he didn't want to be stuck in that room again where his memories could haunt him.

"Were you in the weaponry room?" Zuko asked suddenly, the blood on Sokka's neck appeared to be the same on the dagger. Sokka was started by the question; the fact that he had been and Zuko asked directly made him uneasy about lying.

"Yes." Sokka replied solemnly.

"What were you doing in there?" Zuko asked, but this time Sokka didn't answer, not ready to admit to anyone that he'd attempted suicide. Zuko huffed, irritated by Sokka's lack of cooperation. "You're not permitted to go in there again," Zuko ordered, standing up, "Nor down here. Get up." Sokka was determined to be stubborn and sit there for a moment and Zuko grew even more aggravated, the fire in his hand for light flaring up more, making the darker skinned one jump in surprise, "I said get up." This time Sokka complied, fear of getting burned overriding his stubbornness. Zuko made a mental note to get someone to guard and lock the doors he did not wish Sokka to enter and turned, heading back to the door.

Sokka attempted to walk, and only found his legs to be weak and shaky. He leaned against a crate and he just wanted to curl up and go back to sleep. Zuko noticed his prisoner lagging behind and turned to see what was taking Sokka so long. He saw Sokka was leaning against the box and holding the flame a little higher he saw Sokka didn't look so good. He huffed and went back over to the water tribe teen.

"Now what's you're problem?" Zuko asked and Sokka glanced at him, a wearily look in his eyes.

"I… don't feel good." Sokka stated and his arm went around his stomach. Zuko's raised an eyebrow and it only then dawned on him of how sick Sokka looked, he looked almost as if… Zuko's eyes widened as Sokka's hand went over his mouth.

"Shit!" Zuko cursed and sure enough Sokka couldn't hold it in any longer; he ran to the corner he just left and ended up emptying his stomach out the way it came. The thoughts of his own attempt of suicide sickened him that much. Zuko grimaced and groaned, holding his nose; the smell of bile was very distinct and disgusting. He went over to where Sokka crouched and ignored the mess the other had made; he'd have to get someone to clean it later. Sokka groaned, disgusted by his own bodily fluids, his eyes watering from the force of puking and his body was even more shaky.

Without thinking Zuko grasped Sokka's upper arm; the darker skinned teen looked as if he was going to fall over. Sokka was startled by the touch, but he wasn't stable enough to react in total fear of it. Sokka shut his eyes and wrapped his arms around himself, feeling ill.

"Get up; I can't have you throwing up in here anymore." Zuko said and urged Sokka up to his feet, letting the flame in his hand die out before grasping Sokka's other arm for support. Sokka stood without fighting it, finding he needed some kind of support to even stand. Zuko urged Sokka out of the room and lean him up to the deck before releasing Sokka; sure the fresh air would help, plus if Sokka felt sick again he could do it overboard. Sokka immediately sat down when he could, the air helped, it didn't make him feel so confined and it allowed him to clear his head.

Zuko looked at the water tribe teen, observing him for a moment. In the noon light Sokka didn't look as if he'd been in a struggle and he didn't look wounded for the acceptation of the injuries from his violation. He was certain none of his men had attempted such a thing with that dagger, and if they had there would most likely have been scorches on the darker teen, but there wasn't even a hair singed on Sokka's head. His only conclusion was that he'd injured himself; purposely he was sure. The prince decided to keep a closer eye on his captive. He didn't want a death on his ship.

Zuko looked up as the door to the ships cabin was burst open and two tired guards, the very two Zuko had ordered to watch Sokka, came out. Sokka also looked up at their entrée and looked away, unable to stop a small smile, he'd been able to evade them for so long.

"You two," Zuko said and walked over to the guards, who froze and knew they had been caught; they had not kept a good watch on Sokka as they had been ordered. "I told you to keep an eye on him, not let him run off into the weaponry room and the storage room!" the soldiers flinched and apologized simultaneously with a 'yes sir'. "Now go to the storage room and clean up the mess there, you'll know it when you see it." The soldiers grimaced, but turned and went to see what they were going to have to deal with. Zuko let out an aggravated sigh and turned back to Sokka; who was no longer sitting on the deck but bent over the railing he'd been leaning against this morning, and was once again emptying his stomach, unable to stop it. Zuko shut his eyes and rubbed his temples, realizing this was going to be a long, _long_ journey.

---

Meh, no comment, you think of one, and review


	6. Haunting

There may have been some confusion to why Sokka was throwing up; its not that he's pregnant (Even though I would love that twist), nor that he's sea sick. Sokka is sort of mentally ill, and the state of one's mind reflects on their physical body if it's bad enough. So, yeah, Sokka's feeling some self hate about the suicide thing.

* * *

Sokka buried his face in his pillow that night. He'd eaten very little that day, unable to hold anything down without feeling nauseated. He spent most of the day on deck and Zuko had watched him carefully throughout the day, making him jumpy and high strung. He didn't like Zuko staring at him, he had the same look in his eye that everyone else did on that ship; pity. He hadn't recognized it at first, his mind had been too clouded to take in the details around him, but now he was sure it was pity. He was ashamed of his own weakness, that being around anyone made him distrustful and prone to panic and be reminded of what had happened to him. He hated the look of pity, it was unflattering and it told him that they all knew; they all had seen him at his weakest moment. It was a horrid feeling of weakness that he couldn't stand, that he could never put into words; but it hurt more than Jet's knife ever could. 

If anything, Sokka would rather have a loathing look in their eyes. He wasn't fragile, he wasn't weak; if they didn't know what had happened, he was sure that they would have been meaner and unforgiving, like their reputation let on. They didn't treat him as a man.

Sokka lifted his head from the pillow and looked at the wall, mind actually being merciful and numbing for a minute. He... wanted to go home, back to the South Pole, and even if it sounded childish, he wanted his mother to hug him and tell him everything was alright. But that wasn't going to happen. His mother was dead; she had been for years. And he wasn't a little boy anymore; he couldn't go and run to mother every time he felt sad anymore. If he ever saw Katara again, he didn't think he could ever tell her what happened; he wouldn't be able to bear seeing the same pity in her eyes like Zuko.

Zuko... He shut his eyes, pondering. The prince was being strange; strange for him at least. He let Sokka wander the ship and his demanding questions of Aang died some. It was perhaps the pity that kept Zuko from harming him, and Sokka almost wished they would actually argue, fight even. If this incident hadn't happened, he would be fighting back against the fire bender, with fists and words; he wouldn't be meek like this, quiet and scared.

"You took your punishment make a man, but now you're a pathetic coward." Jet's voice cackled in his brain, cutting through his mind's numbness and making Sokka jump and franticly look around. He sighed when he saw nothing yet again and he hit his head into the side of the wall in frustration; maybe hitting his head would knock some sanity back into him, he could only hope. Now the Jet in his mind was plaguing him with words the Earth Kingdom native never said, but mocking him with his own fears in his head now.

He curled up on his side and took a shaky breath, telling himself he should really get some sleep, or at least try to.

---

"...he was in the weaponry room, I think he was trying to kill himself." Zuko said to his uncle as the old general happily nursed a cup of tea, sitting in a chair. They were alone in Iroh's room, discussing Sokka's running away below deck. Zuko felt more comfortable talking to his relative than anyone else about this. The prince had taken up a long, across the room, pacing, which Iroh watched calmly.

"But he didn't," Iroh pointed out, "And he didn't take a weapon."

"He could have though." Zuko huffed, "He's no use if he won't talk, but he's our only lead..."

"Maybe you should care about him a little more," Iroh threw the idea out there, bringing his tea cup to his lips, "People in these types of situations need social interaction..." He hid a smile by sipping his tea, trying not to laugh on his nephew's face. Zuko froze in place and looked as if Iroh had grown another head, right eye twitching once.

"What!" Zuko yelled, "Why should I start being social with him! He doesn't even talk, and he'd shut himself back in his room. And he... he's..." He'd been raped. What was he suppose to say to a person who'd been through that?

"He's in need of companionship," Iroh said, "Everyone needs companionship through hard times." Zuko paused, thinking over that statement. When he'd been banished from the Fire Nation, he'd thought he was alone in the ocean, but... his uncle had always been there for him. Iroh drank tea and played Paisho, but he'd always been there. Sometimes he was wise, but most of the time he was carefree and humorous; and while Zuko was often annoyed and frustrated by this, he had to admit, he would never wish his uncle to change or leave him.

"I can't be someone's security blanket." Zuko said coldly. He just couldn't, he wasn't good with people, and he never had been. He wasn't someone who one would turn to for comfort; rather, he was uncomfortable while trying to console people, so he didn't. It was rare enough if he ever felt guilty because he meant most of the things he said, even in angry bursts. He didn't have friends, never had friends; he simply didn't have time for them as a child; he had to learn to become king and how to rule the Fire Nation.

"If you want him to confide in you, you have to be willing to be kind." Iroh said plain and simple, "I doubt he'll talk to one of the crew more than you, and you're closer to his age, naturally I think he would be more comfortable with you." Zuko huffed; people were not comfortable around him, Zuko became accustomed to the hateful and disgusted looks; but that didn't mean he liked it.

"I truly doubt he'll 'confide' in me." Zuko said, believing what he said 100 percent.

"You never know until you try," Iroh said and drank his tea, sighing contently as the soothing drink was finished, "Though that can wait until morning, he and you need your rest." Zuko snorted at him and Sokka having to do the same thing, but he let it pass, starting to think that maybe he really should try his uncle's plans, just to see if they worked.

* * *

Sorry for the long wait and thank you to my betas, they did a great job, please review. 


	7. Starving

Gomen! Gomen-nasai! Readers please forgive me, I was captured by the episodes of Naruto and there was Lee-kun and Skikamaru-kun background stories! I couldn't help myself! ... I'm up to episode 158 on the net while the tv is still down at 39 ... FORGIVE ME! I've had no mojo for typing and most of it is in my book and I hate retyping things from my book, but the next scene is in it so I guess I'll have to do it **-big sigh, eyes droopy-** that and HKL-chan and I have been having late nights/early morning RPing and that makes me lazy.

BUT, good news is I'm OUT OF HELL AND INTO LIMBO:D I'm out of High School FOREVA! I don't have to speak to the homophobic, retarded peoples no more! I NEVER have to go back! And I never WILL go back! Because I'm not having kids so they don't have to go to that stinking school!

Again I'm sorry, one of these days I'm going to have to go to the coffee shop where there are no distractions and type.

Wow, I rant a lot when I'm tired... its 1:45 here right now while I'm typing this, and is soon as I get my betas woken up, I'll post it. Thank you for your patience, I'm glad you guys like my story.

I also flipped through my reviews, man they seem so long ago.

Um, one person hoped it would not become a SoZu, which I'm assuming to be Sokka/Zuko... I don't do Sokka/Zuko, I do Zuko/Sokka, which this will most definitely be, because I have not found one aspect that would make Sokka top in the relationship, just... no.

And wow... lots of people commented on the Mpreg... **-Sulks-** I like Mpreg, and I know I won't use it for the story **-pokes fingers together-** but the temptation is still there, even though I know how I'm going to end it.

And thank you everyone for all your lovely compliments, my ego always needs a little boost, so don't be afraid to rant, I like constructive criticism (Not flames, don't get the two mixed up, because flames are just idiotic babbles). Thank you all! **-hugs reviewers-**

---

Sokka's eyes opened as he heard the door creek open on heavy metal hinges. He _had_ been asleep, but he just couldn't stay sleeping when someone was in the room, not after Zuko scared him the first time. His vision was hazy with sleep for a minute, seeing only a dark silhouette approaching from the fire lit hall way. He blinked his eyes furiously to clear his line of sight, his heart hammering in his chest again. The light was gone when the door was closed and Sokka sat up, body tense, scrubbing at his eyes, vision clearing.

Zuko was in the room with him, he realized and he forced himself to calm. It was no doubt time for Zuko's questioning about Aang. It was two days after his attempt at death and he didn't want to get up today. He didn't feel that he could stomach anything spoken or fed to him. It took a moment to realize that Zuko had a tray of food with him. It had not been in the room before he had woken up, he was sure of it; he would have woken up when the door had opened by a soldier.

Zuko sat on the end on the bed, shoving the plate under Sokka's nose, irritation clear in his movements. Sokka was surprised by the whole thing, even more so than the first day he'd awoken. Wasn't bringing food to a prisoner below someone of royal blood? He'd always been given that impression because even the guards disliked bothering with him and bringing the food to him instead of just slipping it in.

"The guards say you haven't been eating," Zuko stated, "If you're trying to starve yourself to death, it will not happen." Sokka blinked at the plate of cooked fish and rice; was that was he was doing by not eating? He hadn't intending to kill himself that way, the knife would have been a cleaner, less painful death; but he didn't intending to starve himself. He was ashamed that he had made it appear that he was still trying to kill himself; he just felt sick to his stomach about everything that had been happening to him. Zuko set the plate in front of him on the mattress, setting a cup of water on the floor so it didn't get knocked over, "Eat."

Sokka stared at the plate from a minute, but he couldn't bring himself to feel hungry. He wrapped his arms around his knees and looked at the wall that he was closest to him; Zuko would leave anyway soon, so he wouldn't have to eat if he didn't want to. Normally that was the case, but Zuko wouldn't have any of it. The prince stood and Sokka's eyes darted to him, not sure what Zuko was going to say or do.

"You're going to eat now, or I'm going to force feed you." Zuko ordered, and Sokka was shocked that Zuko was pressing the subject.

"Why should I?" Sokka asked, not liking to be ordered around or threatened, but at least it wasn't a threat on his life.

"Because I said so." Zuko replied.

"What do you care?" Sokka asked solemnly, eyes glancing back to the wall. Zuko didn't care about him, why would any one care about him after what had happened to him; he'd been beaten, raped, and captured. He attempted a new low of killing himself that he never thought of going through, even in his wildest dreams. Also, on top of it all everyone on this ship thought of him as a pitiful peasant that couldn't defend himself.

Zuko almost snapped, 'I _don't_ care,' but he remembered that he was trying to gain the teen's trust, and Sokka seemed to be on a very fragile level of being completely shattered. He wasn't that cruel, he didn't want to see anyone like this; not even the bastard Zhao or his bitch sister, Azula. Zuko huffed and picked up the spoon that had been shoved into the mound of food. Sokka was slightly confused and opened his mouth to ask or protest, but Zuko didn't find out what he was going to say because he shoved the spoonful of fish and rice, silencing him. Sokka's mouth closed around the food in surprise; really not expecting for Zuko to go through on what he had said about force feeding.

"I told you to eat," The fire bender stated and slowly extracting the spoon from the Water Tribe teen's mouth, then quickly took Sokka's chin in his hand, making sure he couldn't open his mouth without a fight, "Now swallow." Sokka did as he was told, shaken by being fed like this, a flush of embarrassment crossing his cheeks. He had the ability to feed himself and here Zuko was, treating him like a child; it was most definitely unflattering. Sokka's stomach clenched painfully at the presence of food. Nearly two days without eating much, hunger finally making itself known with a growl in his gut. Zuko didn't comment on the growl from his stomach, it would only be a tease and a stab at what ever remained of Sokka's pride.

"If I find that you threw up everything you eat, I will personally hold you down and shove the rest down your throat." Zuko threatened harshly and Sokka jerked away from him, pulling his face out of the other's grasp. Zuko stood up straight and crossed his arms across his chest. "Now, are you going to feed yourself, or am I going to have to do it?" Sokka stared up an the prince, feeling a strange level of helplessness that he did not like. It wasn't really the threat that made him pick the spoon up, but he didn't want Zuko feeding him, it was very embarrassing and he didn't want the prince to touch him any more.

Sokka wanted the prince to leave, but Zuko didn't step out of the room, he actually went back over and sat at the other end of the bed, watching and making sure Sokka ate every bite. Sokka tried to ignore Zuko's eyes on him as he ate, but he felt the pressure of the fire bender's intense yellow eyes on him. His face was flushed the whole time; he didn't like to be stared at. It was as if Zuko was judging the very way he ate; it crawled under his skin and made him shiver.

Sokka finally stopped when he was a little more than half done with the plate. He knew he couldn't eat anymore or he would throw up, and he pushed the plate away, wrapping his arms around his stomach, eyes watering. He'd never been made to eat, he'd always had always had a healthy appetite but now he had virtually none. He felt his gut give another growl and his stomach cramped from not having food in so long.

Zuko kept a steady gaze on Sokka for a little bit longer, judging if Sokka had actually had his fill; it actually looked as if he'd had a bit too much, though it was hard to tell if it had been intentional or not. He sighed and stood up, swiping the plate from in between them, noting that Sokka flinched when he moved. Was he still scaring the other teenager that badly?

"I told you to eat, not stuff yourself so full that you'd vomit," Zuko huffed, walking over to place the place down on the table, where the food was usually put, "I'd expected you to have as least that much sense." He looked back at Sokka, who didn't answer, he just curled up in bed again, mentally willing the fire bender to leave him alone. Zuko walked back over to Sokka agitated. "Look..." He wanted to make a point that he wasn't going to hurt the other, but he had no clue how; personally, he would not trust an enemy if they told him that they weren't going to hurt him, he guessed it would be the same for Sokka.

Sokka kept his eyes on the prince, but Zuko didn't finish what he was going to say, instead he looked frustrated and began to pace in the room, thinking. Sokka watched Zuko pace back and forth, wondering what Zuko was trying to formulate, and right in front of him none the less. Was Zuko _trying_ to play mind games with him, or was it his own mind that made him so paranoid?

"Look," Zuko finally said again, stopping in front of Sokka, "Its not my job to baby you, you should be able to feed yourself and take care of your own well being," Sokka looked away from Zuko and Zuko folded his arms. Maybe he shouldn't be so harsh, but he didn't know how to be any other way. He'd never seen anyone so depressed and pitiful before, not like this Water Tribe teen before him, "What happened to you?" Zuko mumbled more to himself than to Sokka, not really expecting an answer.

Sokka couldn't suppress the tears that overflowed from his eyes, leaking into the mattress. To tell the truth, he wanted to know that himself. He had no clue what was happening to him, and it was the scariest experience that he had ever been through, and it wasn't going away, it was only getting worse. So why should he take care of himself?

Zuko stared down at Sokka seeing the tears, and he hand no clue what to do about it. He must have pushed a button in the other and he hadn't intended to push that particular button. He sighed and sat down on the bed once more, closer to Sokka, startling him. He picked up the cup of water that had been forgotten and held it out to the other, knowing that crying dehydrated a person quickly.

Sokka eyed the water wearily, but took it without protest, realizing how thirsty he was. He sat up and stared into the cup that he held with both hands, seeing little ripples in the water; was he shaking that badly? He took a deep breath and drank it; wondering why Zuko didn't just leave him be.

---

ok, I know they are really short chapters, but they are really emotion filled and really straight to the point. Uh **-Claps hands together, huffing**- Zuko and interaction which people... I can already feel that its going to be tough, but I have plans, oh the plans I have **-Grins-** You'll see, hopefully I'll get another done soon, more Zuko and Sokka interaction as Sokka tries to deal with his trauma. And I actually found out that two people close to me have been raped, I was kind of shocked, scary stuff, and emotional.

Um... Review please


	8. Word of the Wise

Cheer! For I have finally transferred this chapter from paper to the computer!

* * *

Sokka ventured outside on deck the next morning, leaning over the railing; watching the water part for the ship. He didn't know why, but Zuko coming and forcing him to eat made him feel somewhat human again, at least for the time being. A feeling of being needed had transpired for some odd reason. Maybe it was only to get Aang, but Zuko hadn't said a word about the young monk. Zuko couldn't baby Sokka and it was true; he was going to have to take care of his own well being. 

At least he would try, he thought glumly, he certainly wouldn't survive another traumatic assault like Jet, he might just break in two. He wondered if he would fight back next time. Not fighting had spared him one or two more slashes across his back. Sokka sighed and tilted his head back, letting the sunlight wash over his face; he felt so helpless and worthless. The only thing people would do is use him, his own opinions didn't matter. Katara and Aang rarely listened to him anyway and all he was good for was information because he was close to Aang...

Sokka was startled out of his thoughts when a soldier approached him.

"General Iroh requests your presence in his chambers." The soldier stated with forced politeness; Iroh had reminded the soldier that a request was an option and not an order.

Sokka blinked at the statement. A request? And who was Iroh? He was curious, but then again, he was untrusting of anyone on this ship. Sokka nodded, indicating that he acknowledged the request and he was left alone at the railing again. He could ignore the request, he mused, but... It wasn't like he had anything else to do; it couldn't be any worse than rotting in a haunted bed chamber.

---

Iroh happily poured his tea into one of his favorite cups as someone knocked on his door.

"Come in." He said and the door opened slowly as Sokka peeked in, "Ah, so you've decided to comply to my request. Come in, would you like some tea?" Sokka shook his head at the offer, he didn't trust the foreign liquid. He didn't have it often; in the South Pole it was water, there were no herbs to brew in the fringed cold. Iroh shrugged and gestured to a seat, across a Paisho table from where Iroh was sitting. Iroh's tea things were on a smaller stood beside him. Sokka shut the door quietly behind him and cautiously took the offered seat, "A game of Paisho perhaps?" Sokka paused, looking at the game board, where pieces were set up.

"Ok..." Sokka said slowly. He had not played Paisho but a few times in his life, just to pass the time while Aang and Katara explored a new town, "But, why did you request me?" Iroh chuckled good naturedly.

"Prince Zuko said I should stop bothering the crew, and since Prince Zuko himself refuses to play or converse, I was wondering if you would like to." Iroh explained, drinking his tea leisurely. Sokka blinked at the simple reason.

"Oh." He replied. The man seemed sincere, even for a man from the Fire Nation. It was one of the few moments that he felt somewhat at ease since he'd been brought onto this ship. Iroh spoke casually as they began the game. Sokka was glad he wasn't required to speak, but nodded and gave a true look of interest; some of the old general's stories were very entertaining, and he couldn't help but want to hear more. Sokka finally gave into Iroh's tea offer and the game was warmed up in front of them.

Iroh didn't mention the war that was going on, nor the part he took in it; there was no need to bring up unwanted stress or anguish. Instead, he told a few of his many old, and enjoyable tales, like young prince Ozai burning down the palace tapestries. The most he got out of Sokka was a smile; no laugh or chuckle escaped him, not once, but Iroh didn't mind, it was more than his nephew would do. The only time Sokka became anywhere near talkative what when he mentioned Zuko.

"-Zuko also had a similar experience when he was young. He set some formal robes on fire without intending to. The royal advisors threw a horrid fit," Iroh said with a laugh, "he never did like to wear those things." Sokka's fingers tapped on the rim of his tea cup, looking hesitant.

"He looks like the type to set anything on fire when he's mad." He said neutrally and Iroh poured himself more tea, speaking wisely.

"Yes, I suppose he does, but he has his reasons." The old general said and moved a piece on the game board. Sokka's eyes darted over the board at the old man, meeting Iroh's piece with one of his own.

"Like catching Aang?" he asked.

"Aang?" Iroh in return, asked. He had yet to find out the Avatar's real name and Zuko didn't seem too curious to find out the monk's identity.

"The-the Avatar." He explained. He still wasn't use to calling Aang the Avatar.

"Ah, so he does have a proper name; Aang." Iroh was pleased and Sokka fell silent. Was it bad to tell them Aang's name? He didn't want to spill all the information he had, then he would no longer be useful. Iroh made him forget that he was talking to a fire bender. It felt like he was talking to a close relative instead of the enemy. What was wrong with him?

Iroh sensed that he had wandered into an area where Sokka was not comfortable. He wasn't trying to stress out the teenager. He wasn't trying to get information. He just wanted there to be a little more peace on this ship. Tranquility was so rare and he liked to see people happy.

So, Iroh drew the conversation away from the Avatar and back to the prince since Sokka had been most opinionated about his nephew.

"Prince Zuko is a complicated young man, he has his mind set on many things." Iroh said.

"He wants to catch Aang, I don't see what's so complicated," Sokka said bitterly, "he's just like any other fire bender." Despite his bitter tone, Iroh smiled warmly.

"I suppose it seems to be the case," Iroh said, "But Zuko is only trying to regain one thing..."

"The Avatar." Sokka made his own conclusion, moving a piece on the game board as the game slowly progressed.

"His honor." Iroh corrected and sipped his tea. Sokka was confused.

"His honor?" he asked.

"Yes." The old man took a minute to breath, getting ready to tell the tail. He had explained it to the crew not to long ago and now he did it for Sokka. The young Water Tribe teen listened intently as he learned about Zuko's banishment. Iroh told him everything he had told the crew. The game progressed and the tea was drained by both of them. Sokka really had no clue about the Fire Nation government, or any kind of government for that matter. But he did sympathize with the story. Zuko wanted to go home, and he would do anything to accomplish it. The story wound down and the game was whittled down to a few pieces.

"Prince Zuko has no intention of hurting you." Iroh said after a respectable silence after the story, "He's just not that good with people."

"But isn't there another way?" Sokka asked softly, holding his empty tea cup in both hands, "Besides hunting Aang?" Iroh shook his head slowly.

"Not in his mind," Iroh said, "His focus is on one thing, regaining his honor, by capturing Aang." He had begun to use the Avatar's given name since Sokka wouldn't call Aang the Avatar. Sokka sat in silence for a while, having sorted through the information given to him. It felt strange that he was getting more information about the prince than he was giving about Aang.

"I guess it make sense," Sokka said, remembering Katara had told him and Aang about what Zuko had said to her after their night running from the pirates, "But that doesn't mean I'll help him find Aang."

"I really didn't expect you to." Iroh said in a knowing tone, waving his hand idly as he finished off the remaining tea into his cup. He moved another piece on the board and Sokka stared at the board for a good minute. Why was Iroh telling him this? It didn't feel like some underhanded plot to try to get information out of him. He guessed Iroh was actually being sincere with him and he relaxed a little bit more, enjoying the calm atmosphere.

Too bad shortly afterwards, Iroh's door was opened with little warning and Zuko stood there, looking aggravated. Sokka winced at the angry expression on the prince's face, looking at the game board. Iroh just smiled broadly upon seeing the prince.

"Ah, Prince Zuko," he said loudly, holding up his tea pot to him, "Very good timing. We seem to have run out of tea. Could you tell one of the sailors to provide some more water?" Sokka looked up and saw Zuko expression turned into an annoyed one, as if Iroh was being childish. Instead of answering his uncle, Zuko looked to Sokka, folding his arms.

"You're missing your food." He said in a tone that told him to get out of the room. Sokka quickly got up, leaving his tea cup on the corner of the game board. He almost darted out the door, but stopped and gave a brief bow to Iroh; he actually had had a good time.

"Thank you for the tea." He said just above a mumble and quickly walked past Zuko, who gave him room to leave. After Sokka left, Zuko looked to his uncle, who was still smiling warmly.

"He's a very intelligent young man," Iroh commented, "and very good at Paisho. I haven't had a good game like that for a long time." The soldiers were fun to play with, but they weren't as strategic as Sokka. Iroh was impressed, "He might have won if we had kept playing." Zuko raised his eye brow. Iroh might have been easy going and fun loving, but being an old general, he wasn't easily impressed; especially not when it came to his board game. "Now, about that tea..." Zuko rubbed his temple with two fingers and followed Sokka's exit. He supposed he could have let Sokka continue to spend time with his uncle, but he didn't want the Water Tribe teen to not eat again. He couldn't go the whole day on just tea.

Sokka thanking Iroh was a strange sight, Zuko thought as he headed down to Sokka's room. Of course, his uncle always had that effect on people. If his uncle had a pot of hot tea and his game board, he could talk any rage fueled maniac into planting flowers and finding peace in the world.

Zuko entered Sokka's room, already finding the Water Tribe teen sitting on the bed, plate in his lap, eating. Sokka glanced up at him, then looked down again. Zuko mentally sighed. He was irritated at himself that he was somewhat jealous that Sokka had talked to his uncle and not him. He shoved the thought away and went to wait out Sokka's dinner time. Those sort of thoughts weren't going to get him home

* * *

Now I just got like 4 more chapters to convert from paper -sigh- but first I got college papers to do. Wish me luck... and send Pocky:D 


	9. Wounds of the Flesh

I will not apologize for being late! Because I had to transfer it from paper so it was already written! I hate transferring from paper, things flow much faster on the keyboard. I hope to be doing a lot more updating for this year as well. Enjoy.

* * *

Nothing changed the next few days. Zuko brought Sokka food and silence continued while he ate. Sokka went out more to clear his head, but he always ate his food on schedule, Zuko made sure of that. It only changed when Zuko was a bit early for Sokka's breakfast one morning and he found Sokka shirtless in his room, attempting to pull off the bandages that covered his blade cut back. He was making little progress as he tried to tug them off, slowly and painfully, trying not to tear the healing wounds. Sokka jumped when the door opened and immediately grabbed his shirt, trying to put it on hurriedly before Zuko could get a good look at him.

Not about to let this chance pass him by, Zuko set down the food and water on the small table. He strode over to Sokka just as the grey fabric slid down over his back.

"Let me see." Zuko said and Sokka hesitated, hands behind his back to hide his external wounds. The fire bender gave him a hard demanding look and Sokka's gaze fell to the sheets on the bed where he sat crossed legged. If he didn't do what the prince wanted, he was sure he'd be forced to anyway. He lifted the shirt off his back and head once again, though not bothering to slide the shirt off his arms, subconsciously needing the added security to his chest. Zuko sat behind him, which made his shiver in fear. He hated when people were behind him. Sokka willed the Prince to get over what ever he was going to do. Zuko hadn't hurt him, yet and had made no uncomfortable moves on him, so he guessed he could cooperate for a little bit.

Zuko inspected the bandages, seeing the blood stains were brown and light. He had almost forgotten that Sokka had the injuries on his back. He remembered that a few of them needed to be sewn up which helped the bleeding stop. Sokka had been unconscious still at the time as the engine room man had done his job as a part time medic. They had to be irritating the teen like crazy by now. Sokka had already had already picked of a couple bottom bandages, but had also pulled off the scabs, making a few re-open and bleed. Zuko lightly touched the bandages in the middle of Sokka's back and Sokka arched his back away from the curious fingers, eyes widening in fear. He hated the touch. There was also an experimental pull on the bandages and Sokka gasped in pain as it pulled on his already tender skin.

Zuko let go at the gasp and stood, knowing that he wasn't making the situation better. He only got up to get the water on the stand. He remembered how hard it had been to remove the bandages from his eye when they were fresh wounds. Tugging and pulling and picking at the annoying scabs never got them to heal but his uncle would kindly pull him aside when he saw him picking and would dab them with oil or water to stop the irritation. If Iroh hadn't, his face might have been even more mutilated than it was now.

Sokka had attempted to pull the shirt back on but Zuko only ordered him to take it off again. Sokka hated it; being poked and prodded at. He tensed when Zuko touched his back again. Even though it was only really touching the bandages, it burned in his mind. He was startled to feel cool water touch his lower back, it soothed his irritated skin upon contact, and for it split second he thought it was his sister's healing abilities. He settled as water was dabbed along a strip of white and it was pulled off effortlessly and painlessly. Sokka was a little surprised at the care Zuko took, but then he tried to forget that it was Zuko trying to help him.

Zuko slowly stripped each bandage off Sokka's skin, having a little more trouble with the larger cuts since the blood might have well have glued the bandage to his skin but they were taken off like all the others. Zuko wiped any excess blood away with the cleaner bandages and got up, the bandages in one hand and the brown tinted water in the other. He walked to the door.

"Don't put your shirt back on, I'll return shortly," Zuko told him before opening the door, "and start eating." And the door shut after him. Sokka hesitated but left his shirt on the bed and got his plate from the table, going back over to the bed to eat. His back was tight but Sokka was content that his back could breath again. He lifted the spoon that was stuck into the rice and gazed at the food for a minute. He wasn't really all that hungry, everything going on deterred his stomach still. Zuko visiting him helped, be briefly thought, though not readily admitting it to anyone. Talking to someone or being talked to kept him sane. Even if it was only Zuko threatening to eat, it didn't feel out of spite or to get Aang. Yet he couldn't put his finger on it. He took a bite of the food and felt a fraction of his normal appetite stir.

Zuko came back a while later with a fresh cup of water and a bottle of ointment; it was one of his uncle's because Iroh always thrift shopped for that kind of thing. He sat on the bed and set the water down, seeing that Sokka had eaten his share and the plate was on the floor. Zuko sat down behind Sokka and opened the small bottle. Sokka grew curious, turning his head to look.

"What's that for?" He asked cautiously.

"Its so your wounds don't break open," Zuko replied shortly, though he paused before he poured it into his hand, "It has to be rubbed into your skin." He knew it was right to warn the other because he saw Sokka go ridged. Even the resent hours they had spent together did not make Sokka any easier about touch.

"I-I can do it." Sokka turned and faced the prince, holding his hand out for the bottle. Zuko didn't give it to him though, raising his eyebrow.

"Can you even reach your back?" Zuko asked skeptically and Sokka frowned.

"_Yes_." He huffed and attempted to show the fire prince, lifting up to touch his shoulder blade with his fingers. His fingers didn't even make it to his shoulder before he froze. Zuko folded his arms in satisfaction as tears welled up in blue eyes. Sokka's tight healed skin had torn at a scab and he was regretting the attempt with his healing body.

"The correct answer are 'no'." Zuko said and Sokka lowered his arm, "Just turn around before you hurt yourself again." Sokka hesitated, but then turned his back to the prince again. He wrapped his arms around himself, trying to brace his body and mind for more contact. His back was tight and now sore for stretching too far, he just wanted to get it done and over with. Zuko rolled up his sleeves and poured some ointment into his hand, starting on one of the larger injuries. Sokka hissed as the ointment touched the sensitive wounds, both physical and mental.

The ointment prickled Sokka's skin and he shuttered as Zuko's warm fingers rubbed over his injuries. He hated the initial touch, it burned his mind and his grasp tightened on his own arms; enough to bruise and tears stung his eyes. His injuries were only throbbing from the touch but his mind was screaming in agony; he wasn't ready for this. Sokka turned his back away from the prince, shaking his head, his eyes wide with fear.

"Don't" He pleaded weakly, trying to get a hold of his own fear, "don't, don't touch me..." he whimpered shakily and curled up near the wall, for a moment, lost in his mind and fears.

Zuko was taken back from Sokka's reaction, but he couldn't find it in himself to press it further. He sighed and wiped the remaining ointment on the sheets. He stood as Sokka slowly came out of his fear induced trace. Zuko didn't say anything about it and corked the bottle again; he wasn't happy. He chastised himself for pressing so far. He was mad to himself for _caring_. He didn't have to care if Sokka's back injuries broke open again, they would mend and break and it would be a painful recovery and he didn't _need_ to be concerned. He shouldn't even be mad that Sokka hadn't warned up to him yet, but he was.

"Are you finished?" Zuko asked, gesturing to Sokka's plate and Sokka nodded slowly, unable to find words though his shame. Zuko picked up the plate and left without another glance at Sokka; he couldn't stand it when Sokka was in his terrified condition that he'd caused.

Shutting the door after himself there was a very brief moment of peace before Zuko's flaming fist collided with the opposite wall; it left a descent dent in the metal work as well as startling the guards. He seethed angrily from his violet outburst; he couldn't do anything right when it came to this Water Tribe teen. He dragged his hand back shaking with pain he barely felt, he walked down the hall, furious with himself that he attempted the bold move

Sokka trembled uncontrollably as he sat there on the bed, staring at were Zuko had left, breathing harshly. He stuttered before he could get a hold of himself; he didn't understand why he couldn't get a hold of his fear. Why did he have to freak out when Zuko was only trying to help? He couldn't even control his own body any more; he didn't like it. His unsteady hands found his shirt and he wrapped it around himself, sinking into the futon; willing himself not to break down.

* * *

And now I'm going to bed, good night. Please tip your waitress with a review because she needs an ego boost if she's going to continue to update quickly. 


	10. Storms

_-Usagi is peeks out from her desk, readers only seeing her eyes up-_

...I looked on my computer and guess what, this chapter was already written._ -sweatdrops- _I know this is diffrent than from regular procrastinating and you're all gonna kill me because you've all been waiting so patiently with your torches and picks... I wrote this 3 months ago and I forgot I had transfered it from paper _-throws chapter at the readers to distract them and then runs before they lynch her-  
_

* * *

The clouds had been absent that morning, but now the wind had picked up and dark ominous clouds were passing over them and waves crashed against the hull, making it rock. Zuko cursed the weather in his mind. They were no where near friendly shores and wouldn't be able to find any before the storm hit; they were going to have to ride it out. 

Zuko's nose wrinkled as a drop of water splashed on his face; he hated getting wet. Perhaps it was just his element talking, but he still didn't like it. His crew was scrambling around the ship, tying things down and taking cover in the hull afterwards. Zuko made his way to the cabins of the ship, going to see where Sokka had run off to. He came to Sokka's door and gave two warning knocks before opening it. The Water Tribe youth was at the small window, watching the storm gather and the men scramble about. Sokka looked up as Zuko walked in, a glint of worry in his eyes; he remembered the last storm he'd been in, fishing with an old man from the Earth kingdom. If Aang hadn't been there, he wouldn't have survived.

"Get down in the hull, its not safe here." Zuko ordered and Sokka hesitated before stepping away from the window. Zuko stepped back out the door and Sokka soon followed, closing the door after him out of habit. Zuko headed quickly for the hull, where there were a few rooms that could be used for waiting out a storm.

As they were quickly heading for a room in the narrow hallway, the ship gave a huge lurch to the side, making everything and anyone that wasn't nailed down slide or stumble. Zuko caught himself with a hand on the wall, stumbling forward, and Sokka bumped into him. Zuko automatically caught the other's hand so Sokka didn't fall flat on his face. As soon as Sokka got his balance back he froze in place, Zuko's hand gripping his firmly. Sokka didn't know how to react, but Zuko didn't notice, instead he walked forward, continuing his way down the hall; though this time, pulling Sokka along so he didn't fall again.

"You're so clumsy." Zuko muttered with an irritated tone and Sokka bit his tongue. He knew he was clumsy, and that comment stabbed at what little self confidence he had. Maybe if he wasn't so clumsy he wouldn't be in this mess. The ship gave another lurch, a wave pushing up against the bow of the ship, making them stumble back. Zuko pulled Sokka closer to him so both of them had a base to stay steady, and both were tense until the lurch had ended, both relieved that the ship didn't flip. Zuko pulled Sokka closer and Sokka took a deep breath to steady his nerves, telling himself that Zuko wasn't going to hurt him or take advantage of him. Zuko soon pulled them into a small room where only a few large crates were strapped down. The ship gave a creak and Zuko shut the door behind them, blocking out all light. Zuko was confident that his crew had gotten to safety; he wouldn't doubt it if Iroh made tea for who ever was in the room with him.

"What do we do now?" Sokka asked as Zuko let go of his hand. Zuko lit a fire in one hand, sliding down to sit on the floor, back against the wall. The small fire lit the small room with a warm red glow.

"We wait." Zuko replied as the ship bobbed on the water, both teenagers feeling the shifting. Sokka nodded some, soon taking a seat by the prince, since Zuko was the only source of light. He didn't want to be left in the dark, even if it meant sitting close to a fire bender. They didn't say anything for the longest time, listening to the ship creak and groan as waves lashed the sides and a storm built.

Zuko let the fire go out, not seeing any point in seeing when there was nothing to look for. Sokka almost told Zuko to keep it lit, but then questions would come, so he said nothing. Still when he slept in the dark, Jet haunted him, and he feared that if he turned around, the Earth Kingdom rogue would rape him again. It was absurd, because Jet wasn't on this ship, but he couldn't stop hearing that cruel voice and burning touches that tore him to pieces. He shivered as he even thought about it. He wrapped his arms around his legs, under his knees and resting his forehead on his knees. He wished either the storm would end or Zuko turned the light back on before any memories were stirred up. Ti was dead quiet for a moment before a creak of the boat emphasized harsh words in his ears.

"Scared? You should be; you can't even take care of your self." Jet's cool voice rang in his head and he jumped, giving a near yelp, but not quite, bumping into Zuko. The fire prince was startled by the sudden noise and bump and he quickly produced a fire ball in his hand, lighting the area. The only thing he found was Sokka braced against him, visibly shaking.

"What happened?" Zuko demanded and Sokka seemed to come back to himself.

"I…" Sokka tried to answer, but how could he say that his violator was haunting him, "I-it was nothing." Zuko highly doubted it was nothing the way he stuttered, but said nothing about it. Sokka didn't move away from Zuko immediately, eyes darting around the small room for any sign of Jet, but there was none. He guessed that all the time Zuko had spent with him while he ate put him at a small level of ease; knowing Zuko hadn't made any sexual moves on him. He definitely felt safer with Zuko than Jet; and that in itself was saying something.

Zuko didn't shove the other away, there was no harm in it and he didn't want Sokka panicking on him. Hesitantly, he wrapped his arm around Sokka's back, startling him, and Sokka's fingers dug into Zuko's shirt, showing he was very tense and insecure. Zuko did no more and waited for Sokka to loosen his grip on his shirt before he let the fire go out again.

In the dark, Sokka's grip became more apparent and Zuko could feel the Water Tribe teen's shaking. He neither loosened nor tightened his grip around Sokka, sensing that both would be a bad move, so he just sat there in the dark, willing the rocking of the ship to seize.

Sokka slowly relaxed into the sensation of being touched. Zuko didn't even do anything, he just rested his warm hand on his back, and it had a small amount of comfort that he appreciated. He felt tears sting his eyes; he wasn't supposed to be comfortable around Zuko, or any fire bender for that matter. He rested his head against Zuko's shoulder, shutting his eyes tight. He wondered how his life had twisted up so badly. He didn't eve know what he wanted anymore.

Zuko felt Sokka' head on his shoulder and accepted it, waiting anxiously for the ship to stop rocking, but he wasn't expecting his shoulder to feel wet. A little startled, Zuko lit a fire, seeing the wet had come from Sokka's clenched eyes, which leaked tears, barely keeping himself from sobbing, but he shuttered with each breath. Without thinking, Zuko moved his hand up from Sokka's back, wrapping his arm around Sokka's shoulder, wiping away the streams of salt water. Sokka's breath hitched and his eyes watered more from the display of affection, even if it was only a small action. Zuko had no clue what possessed hi to be so gentle, but if it calmed Sokka down, he didn't care.

Sokka bit down on his sobs, the creaking of the ship being the only sound in the room. Just for the moment he wanted to be comforted and reassurance that he was safe, just once. He wished Katara was there, because even though they had their sibling fights, they were always there for each other. He wanted his mother back, o hold him until he felt better. He'd even take Aang's goofy antics to try to forget what was going through his mind; but all he had was Zuko beside him.

Zuko let the fire go out again and secured his arm around Sokka's back, hearing the ship creek dangerously around them. Zuko relaxed in the dark, knowing what was around him and where things were caused him to be at ease; Sokka's warmth against his side and arm felt nice, although it would have been more pleasant if there wasn't a storm and if he didn't know Sokka was having an emotional breakdown right ext to him. Zuko held the other tighter when the ship tilted, not wanting to slide around the floor. Sokka tensed ever so slightly, but then relaxed more; his tear had stopped for now.

Sokka should have pulled away fro Zuko's warmth, but his mind was not completely together. The warmth wasn't so bad; he couldn't remember a time when someone had just sat there and held him so casually, yet so warmly. For now he trusted Zuko. Sokka needed some anchor to keep him from gong insane in the dark. The rocking of the ship steadied, but it did not cease, and the heat from Zuko made Sokka drowsy. He really had nothing to do until the storm stopped, he realized, and before he could wound himself into paranoia about Zuko taking advantage of him while he slept, he drifted off into the calmer waters of sleep.

Zuko only realized that Sokka was asleep when Sokka's body went completely limp against his. He lit a flame for the fourth time that night and looked over to see Sokka's eyes were closed and he didn't. Zuko was intrigued by the darker skinned one's peaceful state. He didn't have to see that fear in those blue eyes. The fire went out and he reached forward where he knew exactly where Sokka's face was, but he stopped and pulled his hand back. What was he thinking? He could ruin what ever trust he had gained by just a curious touch of Sokka's skin. He had surprised himself by wanting to touch Sokka.

He let his head 'thunk' against the wall behind him; the usual hallow sound drowned out bu the storm. This was going to be a long night

* * *

I'm trying to update all my fics! Really! _-Dives back into her rabbit hole-_


End file.
